Neogene Aquifer System (South-East), Dibdibba-Kuwait Group

Dibdibba Delta Basin

Executive Summary

The Neogene Aquifer System (South-East) represents the northern extension of the Neogene Aquifers, which overlie the Paleogene Formations in the north-east of the Arabian Platform. The aquifer system is located mainly within the boundaries of the Dibdibba Delta basin, which is formed by the Wadi ar Rimah- Wadi al Batin that extends from the Arabian Shield in the west to the mouth of Shatt al Arab.

The basin stretches across three countries and comprises three aquiferous formations, known as Dibdibba, Lower Fars and Ghar Formations in Iraq and Kuwait, and Hofuf, Dam and Hadrukh Formations in Saudi Arabia. Groundwater has traditionally been abstracted mainly from the Upper Dibdibba Formation in southern Iraq and Kuwait or the Lower Hadrukh Formation in Saudi Arabia, which are mainly sands and gravels of continental origin. In recent years, abstraction of groundwater from these aquifers seems to be limited by two main factors: dewatering of the Dibdibba Formation, which has become largely unsaturated in several areas, and inversion of downward groundwater flow from the Neogene to the Paleogene Formations in heavy abstraction areas.

Water level decline and inversion of vertical flow due to over-exploitation

The Inventory of Shared Water Resources in Western Asia is a comprehensive report published by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-ESCWA) and the German Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), with financial support from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).